


Coffee & Creamer

by silver_etoile



Category: SKAM (Netherlands), WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22465588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_etoile/pseuds/silver_etoile
Summary: This very cute guy has been coming into the cafe for months but Lucas hasn't worked up the courage to talk to him yet. Today might be the day.
Relationships: Jens Stoffels/Lucas van der Heijden
Comments: 5
Kudos: 161





	Coffee & Creamer

“He’s back,” Isa sing-songed from behind Lucas, taking the cup he handed her, and Lucas hated that his eyes immediately shot to the front door of the cafe.

There he was, Lucas thought, annoyed at the swoop in his stomach as the guy stepping inside met his gaze and smiled slightly. Lucas still didn’t know his name, just that he came in far too often to be normal, always chose the table by the window so long as it was available, and spent probably too much time studying while Lucas tried not to stare.

He wondered if the guy was actually studying, though Lucas had no reason to suspect not.

“Well?” Isa asked when Lucas didn’t move from behind the counter, instead watching the guy dump his bag on the floor and settle into his usual spot. It was a drizzly day outside, the sky grey and dark, puddles on the sidewalk as people bustled by with bright umbrellas.

“Well what?” he asked, pulling his gaze away from the guy, back to Isa’s raised eyebrows, her curly hair coming out of her ponytail. 

“Are you going to go ask him what he wants?” she asked, smirking as though she already knew the answer. “Or are you just going to bring it to him?”

“Shut up.” Scowling, Lucas forced himself to turn. It was ridiculous to have a crush on a customer, even one as good-looking as this guy with his sky-high cheekbones, soft, plush lips, and dark hair that Lucas just wanted to run his hands through.

“He’s been coming in here since Uni started,” Isa said as Lucas busied himself making the coffee he knew the guy would order if he actually went over there and talked to him. She said it as if Lucas didn’t know, as if he hadn’t noticed the guy the very first time he’d wandered into the cafe and greeted Lucas with a smile so genuine it made Lucas’ heart melt.

He didn’t reply to Isa, adding the creamer and placing a sugar cube delicately on the plate.

The guy had been coming in here for over a month and Lucas had yet to say much of anything to him that wasn’t, “What can I get you,” and “Have a good day.”

He was pathetic.

Isa wasn’t speaking now as Lucas glanced over at the guy, only to find the guy watching him, a small smile at the corner of his lips. Looking away quickly, Lucas grabbed a few speculoos cookies to add to the plate.

It wasn’t that Lucas was completely hopeless when it came to guys. Since he’d come out to his friends last year, there had been plenty of make-out sessions at parties, groping in dark corners at clubs, a blow job in the library bathroom once. But there had never been anyone to hang out with afterward, to talk about stupid shit like movies or music or even school.

He wasn’t sure any of that was possible with this guy, if this guy was even into other dudes, or if maybe he was just friendly, just flirted for the fun of it, to watch Lucas’ cheeks go pink when he made jokes about what other kinds of desserts they had behind the counter.

Lucas didn’t ask what Isa was smiling at when he finally straightened up with the guy’s coffee. He didn’t want to know. Whenever Isa got an idea, it took a hell of a lot to get her to let it go.

Instead, he headed for the guy’s table, forcing himself to be chill as the guy smiled up at him and the coffee he slid on top of a textbook.

“The service here is really spectacular,” he said, eyes bright as he watched Lucas.

“Just doing my job,” Lucas said, unsure what to do with his hands as he stood there, tugging at his apron string instead.

“You do it well,” the guy said, flicking a lock of hair from his eyes.

For a second, Lucas allowed himself to take in the guy up close—his soft red hoodie, faded in color as though he’d had it a long time, the edges of the cuffs frayed slightly, his dark lips wet as he flicked his tongue over them, thick eyelashes fanning against his cheek as he blinked and kept his gaze on Lucas. The table was covered in the usual pile of textbooks and notepads, and the guy twirled a pen between his long, strong fingers, fingers that made Lucas think of them curling around his hips and holding on.

“What are you studying today?” Lucas asked when the guy merely smiled at him. He could turn and go back behind the counter like he usually did, face Isa’s disappointed sigh as though she had something invested in whether or not Lucas talked to the guy.

The guy seemed surprised Lucas was sticking around, and maybe it was a surprise. So far, most of their interactions had involved Lucas bringing him coffee, the guy making a flirty joke, and Lucas trying his best to ignore the feelings creeping into his chest.

He usually wasn’t so shy with guys, but those were guys he wanted to shove up against a wall, get his hands down their pants, not learn their names and go out for ice cream afterward.

“Bio-chem,” the guy said, patting his textbook fondly, as though it was a pet. “It’s total shit.”

Lucas smiled. “So you’re pretty smart, huh?”

“Not really,” the guy said with a self-deprecating smile. “That is why I will be here all afternoon, trying to understand this shit.”

“We’ve got plenty of coffee, if you need more,” Lucas offered, and the guy smiled at him. It did strange things to his stomach, like little fluttery insects crawling all over each other, nervous and excited. He started to turn, but something stopped him. Normally, he would walk away now, go back and lament not asking the question he so desperately wanted the answer to.

The guy was still watching him when Lucas turned back around.

“You’ve been coming in here for almost two months,” he said after a minute, feeling unnecessarily nervous, tugging at his apron string, “and I still don’t know your name.”

The guy’s smile widened as he met Lucas’ gaze. “It’s Jens.”

“Jens,” Lucas repeated quietly, more to himself than anything. He just wanted to be able to stop calling him the “hot Belgian guy” in his head.

“And you are?” Jens asked, although Lucas was pretty sure he knew it by now considering how much time he spent in the cafe and probably listened to him and Isa talking.

“Lucas,” he said quickly. “I’m Lucas.”

Jens nodded easily, tugging down his sleeves as he tapped his pen against the table. “Nice to finally meet you, Lucas.”

Lucas could only nod in return, biting his lip as he turned away and headed for the counter. Jens. His name was Jens and he studied bio-chem.

Isa grinned at him as Lucas ducked behind the counter, retying the knot on his apron.

“What?” he asked, and she shook her head with an obvious shrug.

“Nothing,” she said, though it obviously wasn’t. “I’m going to unload the dishwasher.”

Lucas let her go, sinking onto his elbows, unable to stop his gaze from gliding over to Jens by the window. He smiled to himself as he watched Jens take a sip of his coffee and finally open his textbook.

*

“I found his Instagram!” Isa whispered, taking the cleaning rag from Lucas’ hand and tossing it in the sink. Lucas frowned as Isa shoved her phone in his face.

“What are you talking about?”

“Jens,” she said, jerking her head to where Jens was still at his table, scribbling things in his notebook and hopefully not listening to Isa, Lucas hoped. He didn’t want to know how Isa knew his name, though he could assume she’d been eavesdropping earlier.

“Why would you look up his Instagram?” he asked, but he didn’t stop himself from glancing at the photos.

Most were of food—fries and ice cream and other greasy things. But there were some of Jens too, Jens with a short guy with brown hair, Jens wearing a shirt that said “Proud bisexual” on it at what looked like a Pride parade judging by the amount of color and glitter everywhere. So he was into guys, Lucas found himself thinking as he took in a photo of Jens’ abs on the screen.

“Why not?” Isa asked, letting Lucas scroll through the photos despite himself. “It’s been two months and you won’t even talk to him.”

“I just talked to him,” Lucas scoffed, though she had a point.

“You finally asked for his name,” she said, taking her phone back. “You should have asked for his phone number.”

“Since when are you my pimp?” Grabbing the rag out of the sink, he rinsed it out instead of glancing over his shoulder to see if Jens was watching them. He probably wasn’t. He probably had better things to do than gossip about someone he didn’t even know.

“Since a hot guy has been coming in here for two months and it’s taken you this long to talk to him.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have come out to everyone, he thought as Isa raised her eyebrows. He could have just kept it to Kes and Jayden, who definitely would not be so invested in what Lucas was doing with Jens.

“What are you expecting to happen, Isa?” he asked, tossing the rag aside. “That I talk to him and he blows me in the bathroom?”

She rolled her eyes as though he was being stupid on purpose. “Fine, don’t talk to him. Just pine over coffee for the rest of your life. I don’t care.”

At least that got her to shut up, Lucas thought as he turned to watch Jens. He wasn’t sure what might happen if he talked to Jens. Maybe they would stumble into the bathroom and Jens would slide to his knees while Lucas grasped the wall for support. Or maybe Jens would smile that smile at Lucas and his knees would go weak and he’d start thinking about lazy Saturday mornings spent in bed. Or maybe Jens would simply say he wasn’t interested.

If Lucas never asked, he never had to know the answer.

*

Isa was on break, and Lucas was grateful for the silence as he brewed coffee and replaced the pastries in the case. He nearly jumped when he straightened up to find Jens on the other side of the case.

“Did I scare you?” Jens asked, and Lucas shook his head quickly.

“No,” he lied, pushing a hand through his hair and attempting to look cool. He couldn’t remember being this nervous with anyone else he’d ever liked. Of course, there had been very few. A couple girls he’d pretended to be into before coming out, a few guys at parties that caught his eye, Kes a long time ago, but nothing like this.

Jens grinned as though he knew Lucas was lying. “I decided I can’t get through this next chapter without a little sugar.”

It could be an innuendo, and Lucas paused, eyebrows rising. He was so glad Isa wasn’t here to see this.

“What’s your poison?” he managed to ask, chewing on his bottom lip as Jens watched him instead of perusing the pastries.

“How about a slice of appeltaart,” Jens said, setting his elbow on the case, cool, relaxed, as chill as Lucas wanted to be around Jens.

“You’re not from here,” he said as he grabbed a plate, and Jens tilted his head to the side.

“Accent gave me away?”

Lucas smiled, sliding the tart onto the plate. “It’s cute.”

“Cute?” Jens repeated, and Lucas paused. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that, should have kept that thought to himself, the way he’d kept every other thought about Jens to himself for the past few months. When he glanced up, Jens was smiling, amused. “Your accent is cute too.”

“I don’t have an accent,” Lucas corrected him, sliding the plate across the counter, but Jens calling him cute in any way sent a ripple of giddiness through him. He was like a girl with her first crush. So ridiculous. “Why would you go to school here instead of Belgium?”

Jens contemplated the plate for a second before shrugging. “Just wanted to get away, start fresh, you know?”

Lucas nodded thoughtfully. He’d thought about leaving, about going to Amsterdam for University, but in the end, it had been easier to stay here, to be able to help his mom and not leave her completely alone in case she needed help.

“So are we living up to your expectations?” Lucas asked after a minute.

Jens glanced up from the tart, hair falling in his eyes. “Well, the coffee’s good, and the service is better.”

Lucas felt himself blush as Jens’ eyes met his, something suggestive there that Lucas couldn’t pinpoint. He didn’t get to ask Jens to elaborate as the cafe door opened and Kes appeared at the counter.

“Hey,” Kes greeted him, fist-bumping Lucas, completely ignoring Jens beside him, the way Jens glanced at him curiously. “Party tonight at Jayden’s. He finally convinced Liv that we weren’t going to break anything this time. You in?”

Lucas didn’t reply for a second as Jens grabbed his plate and slipped away from the counter, returning to his chair. Fuck. He should have said something.

Kes followed his gaze when Lucas said nothing.

“Who’s that?”

Lucas shook his head. “Just a guy that comes in.” He didn’t need Kes on his case like Isa. “What did Jayden have to do to convince her?”

Kes shrugged. “I think he had to promise to do the dishes for the next month. But it doesn’t matter. Come by after you get off.”

“Yeah, okay,” Lucas said, distracted by Jens glancing his way before returning to his books.

Kes smiled slightly, leaning across the counter. “Bring a friend if you want.”

Rolling his eyes, Lucas looked away from Jens. “Don’t you want to know where Isa is?” he asked instead, hoping to distract Kes.

“Let me guess,” he said easily. “Eating cake on a bench in the park?” He laughed. “I’ll go find her, and I’ll see you tonight.”

Lucas didn’t reply, watching the door swing shut after him as he stepped into the gloomy day.

*

It was the three o’clock lull, and Lucas was bored. He’d already cleaned, restocked the napkins, filled and started the dishwasher, and he still had two hours left on his shift. Aside from a couple giggling over croissants, the only other person in the cafe was Jens, into his second cup of coffee, the speculoos forgotten in his hand as he took notes with the other.

The empty tart plate sat at the edge of the table, and Lucas wondered why Isa hadn’t picked it up when she’d gone around earlier.

As it was, Isa was scrolling through her phone at the moment, not paying Lucas any attention, leaning against the back counter.

Pushing off the register, Lucas headed for Jens’ table, grabbing the plate before Jens could look up.

“Hey,” Jens said as Lucas stepped away, and Lucas paused. “You don’t happen to know why I chose a course of study that makes my head feel like exploding, do you?”

Smiling, Lucas turned back. “Sorry, no.”

“And you don’t, magically, know anything about bio-chem that could help me?”

Lucas laughed, returning to Jens’ table, eyes falling to the books opened to formulas.

“I’m studying linguistics, so no.”

Jens sighed down at his books before groaning, tilting his chin back, and Lucas looked away from the long line of his neck. Jens glanced at him after a second, eyebrows furrowed.

“Do you ever feel like you just want to get drunk in the middle of the day so you don’t have to study?”

“All the time.”

“God, being responsible sucks,” Jens said, shaking his head at the table.

Lucas paused, glancing at the plate in his hand. Behind the counter, Isa was engrossed in her phone, texting someone. Probably Kes. The cafe was mostly empty, and the chair across from Jens beckoned him enticingly as Lucas hesitated.

He took the chair before he could over-think it, sliding in across from Jens and setting the plate back down. Jens didn’t look surprised at Lucas joining him, a small smile gracing his lips instead.

“You don’t have to be responsible all the time,” Lucas said, and Jens watched him. He wasn’t sure what he was getting at, where he was going with this, but he was glad when Jens smiled.

“Trust me, I’m not,” Jens assured him, setting down his pen. “I haven’t gone to my nine AM class for three weeks.”

Lucas laughed. “I haven’t done the readings for my history class all semester.”

Jens leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Last week, I hooked up with a guy at one of those masked parties. Couldn’t even see his face.”

So Jens was definitely into guys, and he wasn’t afraid to tell Lucas.

“I was drunk the first time I ever gave anyone a blow job,” Lucas admitted.

Jens’ eyes were dark, intense, when Lucas looked up.

He wondered why it had taken him so long to talk to Jens as they sat across from each other, why it had taken him this long to get here. He should have done this months ago, the first time Jens had come into the cafe and Lucas’ immediate thought had been that he wanted to know what Jens’ touch would feel like.

“My friends are having a party tonight,” he said when the silence stretched between them. “Nothing fancy. Just drinking and hanging out.”

He didn’t ask, not exactly, and Jens didn’t move back, licking his lips slowly. Would it be too much to go on break right now and drag Jens into the cafe bathroom? Probably, he told himself as he waited for Jens’ answer. He should probably wait until he knew for sure Jens was interested before he let his mind run away with fantasies.

“Your friends are having a party,” Jens repeated after a minute, curious, and Lucas smiled slightly.

“My friends don’t know anything about bio-chem either,” he warned Jens. “So it’ll probably just be getting drunk, smoking some weed, and playing video games, if you’re into that.”

The corners of Jens’ mouth tilted up. “Are you asking me to come with you?”

Lucas couldn’t help the nerves building up in his chest as he shrugged. “Unless you prefer nameless, faceless guys at masked parties.”

Jens’ smile widened, and Lucas took a breath, forcing himself to stop fiddling with his apron. “I mean, they’re fun, but I’ve been waiting two months for you to do more than take my order.”

Glancing up, Lucas couldn’t help his surprise. “Why didn’t you just ask me out first?”

Jens shrugged. “A girl told me once it was rude to hit on people while they’re working. Also, you barely talked to me.”

Lucas couldn’t really argue that. He’d been too nervous somehow to let himself think that maybe Jens liked him back. Obviously, he’d been wrong.

“I’m talking to you now,” he said finally. “And I’m asking if you want go to a party with me.”

Jens held his gaze for a long moment before he nodded. “I’d love to.”

Lucas felt the flush on his cheeks again, a rush of excitement as Jens grinned at him. He should have done this months ago.

“I should get back to work,” he said after a minute, jerking a thumb at the counter. Not that anyone had come in the cafe in the last few minutes. “But I get a break soon. If you want to go _talk_ some more.”

Jens’ eyebrows went up, intrigued as Lucas pushed himself out of the chair. “Yeah, we could talk,” he agreed, and Lucas didn’t bite back his grin as he grabbed the plate off the table. They were definitely going to do more than talk, but he didn’t say it as he returned to the counter, sliding the plate to the side and sighing at the cappuccino maker.

“All I ask,” Isa said without looking up from her phone. “Is that if you have sex in the bathroom, please clean up afterward.”

Lucas was in far too good a mood to be annoyed by her, and he glanced over his shoulder instead, catching Jens watching him from across the room.

“I’m going take my break early today,” was all he said, and she smiled down at her phone, shaking her head.

“You do that,” she said simply, and Lucas turned to Jens, smiling to himself. He would do that. With Jens. Because two months was too long to question if they liked each other. There was no question now, Lucas thought as Jens caught his eye and smiled. No question at all.

**Author's Note:**

> This comes with super special [art collab](https://itubainaretro.tumblr.com/post/190533841000) with dreamy-slytherin over on tumblr!


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